


A Night In

by AutisticWriter



Series: Polyamory Fics [40]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute, Date Night, Established Relationship, Family, Fluff, Food, Kissing, Multi, One Shot, Polyamory, Sleepy Cuddles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-04-06 23:06:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14067555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: Steven recommends that the Gems try a human dating ritual known as a date night. They decide to give it a try.





	A Night In

It was Steven’s idea. Everything like this always tends to be Steven’s idea. Who else could come up with ideas like this? After all, they are Gems, not humans. Pearl tries to tell Steven that his human dating rituals never fail to confuse her, but Steven just grins and says, “I know you’ll enjoy it, Pearl. Just give it a try.”

Today’s idea is no exception. To Amethyst and Garnet’s amusement and Pearl’s confusion, Steven jumps onto the couch between them all and says, “You know what you three should do? You should have a date night!”

“A… date night?” Pearl says.

“Yeah, it’s a human thing,” Steven says.

Amethyst grins. “What, do we go on a date in the middle of the night?”

“Surely not,” Pearl says, frowning. “That would be dangerous.”

Steven giggles. “No, that’s not what I mean. You should spend the evening in, have a nice meal, have candles, and just talk, you know. Dad said he and Mom always used to go on dates, but a date night at home can be even better than going out somewhere.”

“I see,” Garnet says. She gives Steven one of her small smiles. “I rather like this idea. I think we should give it a try.”

Pearl is sceptical, but Garnet usually knows what she’s talking about. So she nods. “All right, then. Let’s have a date night.”

“Awesome!” Amethyst yells, kissing Pearl on the cheek.

She blushes. This seems like a strange idea, but it’s worth a try.

\---

The next evening, Steven goes to have a sleepover with Connie, leaving the beach house empty for the Gems. Garnet and Steven decorated the place earlier, and Pearl is still amazed. A table with a pink lace tablecloth stands in the middle of the room. Candles cover surfaces all over the house. Most of the lights are off, leaving the room dim and soft looking. Simply, it is lovely in here.

Pearl is on cooking duty, even though she doesn’t like to eat. So she uses one of Steven’s cookery books and prepares them a simple meal of spaghetti bolognaise. She stands by the stove and stirs the spaghetti as it goes soft and all falls into the saucepan, rather enjoying the smell of the mince cooking even though she hates the taste of it. At the table, Amethyst lays out the cutlery, doing her best to make it look neat rather than just throwing it all on the table like she did last time (“Amethyst!” Pearl yelled as Amethyst threw a pile of knives and forks onto the kitchen counter, flinching at the horrible clattering sound; Amethyst just shrugged).

“That smells delicious,” Garnet says, wandering over.

“Thank you,” Pearl says, smiling. “Although I’m sure Steven can cook it better.”

“No, I think yours will be just as good as Steven’s.” Garnet smiles and kisses her. “I’m certain of it.”

Pearl blushes and Amethyst laughs.

Soon, the food is ready and Pearl dishes it onto three plates. She carries them over and sets them on the table, and her girlfriends join her at the table.

“Thanks, P,” Amethyst says, and she immediately starts gobbling up the food. She finishes eating the whole plateful in a few seconds, so Pearl smiles and hands her the third plate.

Garnet decides to eat in a more… cultured way, twisting the spaghetti around and around her fork before putting it in her mouth. She smiles. “It tastes delicious too.”

Totally content to watch her girlfriends eat, Pearl sits there and the three of them chat whilst Amethyst and Garnet eat. Steven was right. This is nice.

Why is Steven always right?

\---

When the meal is over, Amethyst and Garnet do the washing up. Pearl tries to protest, but they shake their heads.

“You did the cooking, P,” Amethyst says. “Now it’s our turn.”

Garnet pats her shoulder. “Go and sit down. We’ll be with you soon.”

So she goes to sit on the couch and watches them clear up. Pearl is much better at chores than anyone else she lives with, so it is a bit painful to have to sit here and watch them do the washing up in a far less efficient way than her. But they eventually finish (hindered by Amethyst’s insistence of licking the plates clean; Garnet informs her that such behaviour is unhygienic and asks her to stop), and soon join Pearl on the couch.

“I can see why you like cleaning, Pearl,” Garnet says. “It is very repetitive.”

Pearl smiles. She likes repetition.

And she likes this.

\---

For the rest of the evening, they sit on the couch, cuddled up together, and chat. They talk about Steven and Beach City and their relationship. And Amethyst’s feet are tangled up with Garnet’s and Pearl has her head resting on Garnet’s shoulder, and they’re all linking arms or holding hands, and it’s just so lovely and intimate. With all of their gem missions, they often don’t have time to just be together like this. But it is lovely. And she thinks they need to do this more often.

“I think we should do this more often,” Garnet says, as though she read Pearl’s mind.

“So do I,” she says. “This is nice. Really nice.”

Pearl wonders why Amethyst isn’t joining in, but a quick glance shows that Amethyst has fallen asleep. Honestly. But she smiles fondly and kisses Amethyst’s forehead.

Sometime later, Pearl also falls asleep, and she dreams about her girlfriends as her gem projects these images onto the wall.

\---

They are still snuggled up on the sofa when Steven comes home the next morning. Pearl awakes with a start when the door bangs shut and an ever hyperactive Steven cries, “Hi, guys!”

“Hello, Steven,” Garnet says. Pearl has a feeling she spent the night awake, stuck in the cuddle pile but not wanting to move, lest she wake the others up. “Did you have a good sleepover?”

“It was awesome!” Steven says, and he launches into a lengthy explanation of what he and Connie did yesterday, which makes Pearl wonder why they are called sleepovers at all, as, judging from the list of activities and Steven’s fatigued appearance, there was little sleep involved at all.

Amethyst finally stirs near the end of Steven’s monologue, yawning and rubbing her eyes just like humans do. She smiles and, finding her hand still linked with Pearl’s, gives it a squeeze.

“Morning, dude,” she says to Steven. And, to Pearl, she adds, “Morning, P.”

When he eventually stops talking about his sleepover, Steven grabs a milkshake from the fridge and leans against the kitchen counter.

“So,” he says with an inquisitive, if silly, grin. “How was date night?”

Pearl blushes. Amethyst rolls her eyes.

“It was brilliant,” Garnet says. “Thank you for the excellent advice, Steven.”

“No problem!” Steven says. “And if you want to know any more about human dating stuff, you know who to talk to.”

Garnet smiles. “We certainly do.”


End file.
